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The forum has covered several instances of how digestion occurs, how to withstand it, and what we can learn and apply from BI & BD in preventing a cultural genocide of dharma civilization. Here is another example, where gullible Indians are eager to accept half-baked and even totally erroneous western equivalents for dharmic concepts and constructs. However, on the positive side, the author in question [G. Schweig], readily acknowledges this error. Much credit to him.
July 2013

"The Bhagavad Gita is often regarded as the Bible of India.
With a gripping story and deeply compelling message, it is
unquestionably one of the most popular sacred texts of Asia and, along
with the Bible and the Qur'an, one of the most important holy scriptures
in the world.
Part of an ancient Hindu epic poem, the dialogue of
the Bhagavad Gita takes place on a battlefield, where a war for the
possession of a North Indian kingdom is about to ensue between two noble
families related by blood. The epic's hero, young Prince Arjuna, is torn
between his duty as a warrior and his revulsion at the thought of his
brothers and cousins killing each other over control of the realm.
Frozen by this ethical dilemma, he debates the big questions of life and
death with the supreme Hindu deity Krishna, cleverly disguised as his
charioteer. By the end of the story, Eastern beliefs about mortality and
reincarnation, the vision and practice of yoga, the Indian social order
and its responsibilities, family loyalty, spiritual knowledge, and the
loftiest pursuits of the human heart are explored in depth. Explaining
the very purpose of life and existence, this classic has stood the test
of twenty-three centuries. It is presented here in a thoroughly
accurate, illuminating, and beautiful translation that is sure to become
the standard for our day"Balakrishnan notes: As [Rajiv Malhotra has pointed out in the book [Being Different]....we have a library and not just a single book unlike Bible/Koran.

Koti agrees with the proposition:
"... Bhagavad-Gita is equated with the New Testament (Christ's sermon on mount). I think there is nothing wrong with that. In fact BG is our New Testament, even though it fell on deaf ears for all practcal purposes! No Hindu scripture has such a blend of Philosophy and theology. ... But none of them have the scope of BG. BG is what many Hindus swear on the court....

... In fact, it is not at all wrong to say that Krishna is the Jehova, David, Solomon, Jesus, Mohamed, and Martin Luther of SD."

Rajiv disagrees with Koti and explains why:
This is a recipe for digestion.

Using Bible as analogy to define Gita reinforces Bible as the reference point for understanding Gita. Further analogies then follow - people define moksha as salvation, and so forth. The whole mapping of non-translatables into the predator paradigm follows.

Thats why we are where are - because Ram Mohan Roy started the trend 200 years ago to make ourselves look easy to understand in the other's terms of reference. It was his deep inferiority complex.

My new book explains that Vivekananda made a major contribution to reverse this digestion, by re-establishing dharma in our terms. By then the digestion had become very advanced. But what Vivekananda started was only partially completed by him. We must take this further to reclaim our tradition - also called decolonization. My new book is my humble attempt to make a contribution in this direction... "

Indrani asks:
The issue of using the BG to swear in court - is this not a western concept? Hindus traditionally use Agni. In Trinidad, the indentured Indians used a lotah with water that signified Ganga Jal. We are not a people of the Book as far as I understand.

Sreenath responds to the comments on his post:
"I don't think Bhagavan Krishna would be insulted by this. He only taught us the message that "You can take different paths to reach Him".The apt sentence would have been that "The bible is the Holy book of Christians, The Gita is one of the most revered texts for Hindus. Christians give due respect to Bible and Hindus worship and try to learn the essence of Gita". .... May be we need to elevate Jesus as one of the many million hindu Gods. We could pray to Him in a Hindu way.May be a concept of "Hindu temple for Jesus Christ" where we have the idol of Jesus christ along with all other Gods like Rama, Shiva, Vishnu, Ganesha etc under one single roof. Then that may deter people who are confused about "how to get Moksha" from converting to other religions from Hinduism. Now they will get the same Gods blessings and there by Salvation from here too.

Rajiv disagrees:
With all dues respects, Sreenath has not read BD to understand that moksha is NOT the same as salvation. hence the promised outcome is different. They are based on DIFFERENT ideas of the original nature of humans -
Original Sin in their case, and originally divine in ours. Please read my blogs on this at Huffpost. Also read: http://hindugoodnews.com/

Sreenath forwards a response from the original author:"... The statement
certainly can be reversed, but for the Indian/Hindu audience most
appropriately. Of course, the point of my mentioning it this way in my
introduction was to give the uninformed Western Christian-based reader a
sense of the degree of importance that the Gita generally holds in
India, which I'm sure you can appreciate. But you're absolutely right in
thinking it was a totally eurocentric statement! "

Rajiv Malhotra provides a more detailed response and context:
"These two texts refer to entirely different paradigms about the nature
of ultimate reality, the nature of the human predicament, the nature of
ultimate solutions possible, and the paths to follow. It is as stupid as
saying that the telescope is the idli of physics.
There is no end to stupid things one can make up. It is not an insult
to just one text, but to both texts, because in either direction the
mapping causes violence.

I am glad my friend G. Schweig
acknowledged the error so truthfully. Had it been a typical RISA
scholar, the response would have been to attack us as fascists,
nationalists, Muslim killers, woman abusers - thereby entirely evading
the real issue being raised.

Graham was ONE OF THE FIRST AND
VERY FEW scholars to stand up and defend me at the AAR 2012 panel on BD
where I was attacked by the Rambachan-Pennington side. He told them in
plain language that what I had been saying all these years was valid,
and my voice could no longer be ignored by them.
He did this with no request from my side. He just sat quietly
throughout the event, and during the Q&A raised his hand to make a
clear and assertive statement with no mumbo jumbo or ambiguous language.
Rare individuals inside the system do this. Most of my supporters
inside the religious studies establishment (of which there are many)
like to be private in their support, but do not have the combination of
integrity-courage to speak up publicly.

I have discussed that AAR
event in detail in this egroup. That event got me started on my current
project to write a book that critiques the neo-Hinduism camp -
something that has not been done by any scholar so systematically. Thats
the book I am in the process of finishing up....Thats the same book of which I sent the
complete pdf to Jeff Long, who had promised that the sole purpose would
be send me his constructive inputs - but instead he started presenting
its ideas as his own in the RISA list where I (and almost every one of
you) is prevented from responding...."

Sriharsha comments:
This is slave and servant mentality to campare Geeta with Bible or Geeta with Quaran or any other foreign religious scripture. I request you and others to read these throughly and you would think differently and would never put them at the same level.

Rajiv: Agreed. If you watch my Youtube discussion with Mark Tully, you will realize how even the most liberal Christians like him cannot accept mapping in the reverse direction. It is violence in either direction.[Here's the Mark Tully Video. Among the best ones!]

Maria provides another in-depth response to Koti:
"... New Testament has NOTHING TO DO with the
Bhagavad Gita. In fact there is so less relation that is even not
enough for making an analogy of it. The only common point is that both
are considered sacred scriptures in their respective contexts. That is
it.

New Testament tells the story...or history....of Jesus, his life, miracles and teachings. Only moral teachings.
Full of do´s and don´t-s. There is no science in it. There is not
philosophy in it. At least, not in the way the mainstream christian denominations teach christianity.

Bhagavad
Gita doesn´t tell the life of Shri Krishna. It tells his teachings
which are so profound that gives way to many interpretations, at several
different levels. There is science in it. There is philosophy in it.
There are morals, of course, but not only morals.

If
I am a child I have enough with following the discipline that my
parents and my teachers give me. I am totally dependent on them and need
them for guiding my every step. When I grow up, I start thinking by myself and taking my own decisions. Then I will start looking for an inner guide.

Bible contains a set of beliefs that one has to follow without questioning. Fixed ideas. Bhagavad Gita is an inner guide.

Bible
is black and white. Like most of the western mindset: good or bad, yes
or not. It moves always between the duality. One can only go from A to B
and from B to A and there are not teachings of how to trascend both A
and B. No more complexity...and no more inner evolution.

Bhagavad Gita is plenty of colours and nuances. Much more complexity. And a staircase to evolve step by step.

New Testament doesn´t respond any philosophical question.Whatever philosophical question that a human being can wonder, finds an answer in the Bhagavad Gita and other Hindu scriptures.

If
one finds some analogies its because they are important texts of both
religions, and I guess that, at least, some common points all religions
have. But by emphasizing the analogies above the differences, with the
passage of time, the differences become diminished (when they are the
crux that makes the religion what it is!). This attitude would bring a
universality that, given the circumstances and the predominance of the
christianity (because of their aggressive and imposing ways of
spreading), that would conclude in the establishment of christian ideas
diluting the differences that define our dharma....which means making
dharma disappear.

I
want to go upwards in my evolution, not downwards. That´s why I came
from the given religion by birth to the Hinduism. You people who are so
lucky of having been born in a wise, vast and rich religion, before
comparing, please realise that you are comparing a child with an adult.
As simple as that. This is the first time I´m writing it: but yes, after
my experience, I can say that the state of the abrahmanic religions is a
childhood state.

I really wished all hindu realised how lucky we are by having the opportunity of being in a dharmic religion. The whole cosmos is comprised in the hindu philosophy!. Let´s protect it by preserving what makes us different!"The last word in this interesting debate goes to Vijayalakshmi:
" ... attempts are being made by various sections of christians to
christianize India by fraudulently converting gullible Hindus, it is
foolish of some Hindus to think of placing Jesus' statue in Hindu
temples along with consecrated 'vigrahas' of our Deities. The idea
itself betrays a lack of knowledge of the basic tenets of Hinduism..
The philosophy of Hinduism is so entirely different from Christianity,
one cannot equate the two religions on par. Moreover, it should be
understood that the Kurukshetra war in Mahabharata was not fought for
possession of kingdom, but it was a war between Dharma and adharma, and
in the end Dharma reigned supreme. The teachings which Lord Krishna
imparted to Arjuna is meant for all of us,that we should be on the side
of Dharma always. So Bhagavad Gita will always be relevant."

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